(Source: Natural Resources Defense Council)

America’s addiction to oil continues to threaten not only our national security and global environmental health, but also our economic viability. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) analyzed how heavily drivers in each state are affected by increases in oil prices and ranked states on their adoption of solutions to reduce their oil dependence — measures they are taking to lessen their vulnerability and to bolster America’s security. NRDC found that rising gas prices, combined with the economic downturn, are making people more vulnerable to changes in oil prices. But many states are taking significant steps to reduce oil dependence through smart clean-transportation policies.

Our analysis shows that:

• Oil dependence affects all states, but some drivers are hit harder economically than others.
• The trends in states’ vulnerability to oil price increases over the past couple of years are not encouraging — drivers in every state were more vulnerable in 2008 than they were in 2006.
• While some states are pioneering solutions and many are taking some action, a fair number of states are still taking few (if any) of the steps needed to reduce their oil dependence.

Image Courtesy: NRDC - Percent of Income Spent on Gasoline by the Average Driver, 2008

The NRDC report says that although some states are adopting strong measures to reduce their oil dependence, too many others are still taking little or no action. The solutions rankings in this report are based on the range of key actions that states can take to reduce oil dependence, with particular focus on policies that can have substantial impact and can be replicated by other states.

NRDC research shows that the 10 states doing the most to wean themselves from oil are:

1) California
2) Massachusetts
3) Washington
4) New Mexico
5) Connecticut
6) New York
7) New Jersey
8) Pennsylvania
9) Oregon
10) Florida

In contrast, the 10 states doing the least to reduce their oil dependence are:

1) West Virginia
2) Idaho
3) Wyoming
4) Mississippi
5) South Dakota
6) Oklahoma
7) Alabama
8) Arkansas
9) North Dakota
10) Alaska

Click here to download the full issue paper. A Fact Sheet developed by the study team can be downloaded here.

(Hat Tip: Elena Schor @ Streetsblog, Capitol Hill)